Psalms 17:1 - Meaning and Application

This psalm is a prayer. Just as there is a time to weep and a time to rejoice, there is also a time for praise and a time for prayer. David was under persecution, probably from Saul, who chased him like a partridge in the mountains. Trouble without and fear within drove him to the throne of mercy as a suppliant, that is, a humble petitioner.

He speaks to God here both by appeal and by petition. His appeal is, “Hear the right, O Lord. Let my righteous cause be heard before your court, and judge it.” His petition is, “Give ear to my prayer” (Psalm 17:1), and again, “Incline your ear to me and hear my speech” (Psalm 17:6). This does not mean God must be pressed with our urgency, but he allows us to show our deep desire for his kind answer.

David gives three reasons for asking God to hear him. First, he is sincere, and he does not pretend in prayer. His words are not from false lips. He means what he says, and his heart matches his mouth. Pretended prayers accomplish nothing, but when our hearts lead our prayers, God meets them with his favor.

Second, he has been praying before this trouble came. This was not the first time distress drove him to prayer. “I have called upon you before” (Psalm 17:6), so he says in effect, “Lord, hear me now.” It is a great comfort if trouble finds the wheels of prayer already moving. Then we can come with more boldness to the throne of grace. People are often glad to help those who have long been their customers.

Third, he is encouraged by faith to expect God’s notice. “I know you will hear me, and therefore, O God, incline your ear to me.” Trusting dependence on God is a strong plea when we bring our desires to him.

Now let us look at David’s appeal. The court he turns to is heaven itself. “Lord, hear the right, because Saul is too angry and biased to hear it. Let my sentence come from your presence” (Psalm 17:2). Men have judged him as if he were an evil man and hunted him down, but he appeals from them to God. He had made this same appeal publicly before Saul, saying, “The Lord judge between me and you” (1 Samuel 24:12), and he repeats it here in private prayer.

This is a great support to innocent people who are mistreated. If ungodly people slander, abuse, and misrepresent us, it is a comfort to know we have a righteous God who will take our part. He is the defender of the oppressed, and his judgment is true. He will bring every person and every cause into the light, remove all false appearances, reverse every unjust verdict, and give to each person according to his work.

Sincerity has nothing to fear from God’s search. In the covenant of grace, that is, God’s gracious agreement to save his people, the upright can say, “Let your eyes see what is right.” God’s full knowledge is a joy to the honest person, but a terror to the hypocrite. It is especially comforting to those who are falsely accused and wrongly treated.

David also points to the evidence that supports his appeal. God had tested him (Psalm 17:3). God’s judgment is right because he judges from complete knowledge, which is more certain than the closest human investigation. David knew God had tried him in two ways.

First, God had tested him through his own conscience, which is God’s servant in the soul. “The spirit of a person is the lamp of the Lord.” God had searched him this way when David examined his own heart at night. He had honestly reviewed his life to see what was wrong, but he could not find the crimes his enemies accused him of.

Second, God had tested him through providence, that is, through the events God allowed. David had twice had a clear chance to kill Saul. He had also been tested by Saul’s hatred, by the betrayal of friends, and by many provocations. If David had been the man people claimed, it would have shown itself. But after all these tests, nothing proved the charges against him.

God had tested David’s heart and could witness to his integrity. Yet David also points to two things his own conscience could confirm. First, he had firmly resolved not to sin with his tongue. “My mouth will not transgress.” He does not say, “I hope it will not,” but, “I have resolved that it shall not.” He kept a guard over his mouth (Psalm 39:1). Constant resolve and watchfulness against sins of speech are good signs of integrity. If anyone does not offend in word, that person is mature (James 3:2). David does not mean he had never failed in speech, because we all stumble in many ways. He means he had sincerely determined that his mouth should not sin, and God knows whether that purpose is true.

Second, he had been as careful to keep from sinful actions as from sinful words (Psalm 17:4). He says that in the ordinary affairs of life he had kept himself, by the guidance of God’s word, from the paths of the destroyer. Some understand this especially of Saul, meaning David had refused to destroy Saul when he had the chance, and had even stopped others from doing it, saying to Abishai, “Do not destroy him” (1 Samuel 26:9). More broadly, it means he had kept himself from evil deeds and had tried, in his place, to keep others from them too.

The ways of sin are the paths of the destroyer. That destroyer is the devil, whose work is to ruin souls by drawing them into sin. We all need to stay out of those paths, because if we walk in the way that leads to destruction, we must blame ourselves when destruction and misery come at the end. It is by God’s word, our guide and rule, that we stay out of those paths, by following its directions and warnings (Psalm 119:9). If we carefully avoid sinful ways, it will comfort us later, especially in times of trouble. If we keep ourselves so that the evil one does not touch us with his temptations (1 John 5:18), we may hope he will not touch us with his terrors.

David’s petition, in short, is that he may experience God’s work in his heart as proof of God’s good will toward him. That is grace and peace from God the Father. He first prays for God’s grace to keep him in the right way (Psalm 17:5).

Lord, by your grace I have kept myself from the path of the destroyer. By that same grace, keep me in your paths. Do more than hold me back from evil, stir me up to keep doing good. Hold my steps steady in your ways, so I do not turn back or wander off. Keep me from stumbling into sin or from ignoring my duty. Lord, as you have kept me up to now, keep me still.

Those who are walking in God’s ways by grace still need to pray that their steps will be held up in those ways. We do not stand unless he is pleased to hold us. We do not go forward unless he leads us, supports us, and carries us. David had been kept in the path of duty so far, yet he did not think that was enough to secure his future, so he prayed, “Lord, keep holding me up.”

Anyone who wants to keep going and keep obeying God must draw fresh grace and strength from him each day through faith and prayer. David knew his way was slippery. He knew he himself was weak and not as settled or prepared as he should be. He also knew that people were watching for him to slip and would use the smallest mistake against him. So he prayed, “Lord, hold me up, so my foot does not slip, and so I never say or do anything that seems dishonest or shows distrust of you, your care, or your promise.”

He also prays for signs of God’s favor in Psalm 17:7. Notice, first, how he looks to God as the Protector and Savior of his people, and takes comfort from that in prayer: “O you who save by your right hand,” that is, by your own power, without needing help from anyone else, “those who trust in you from those who rise up against them.” Trusting in God is part of his people’s character. He is pleased to make them his close friends, for “his secret is with the righteous,” and they make him their trust by giving themselves to him.

Those who trust in God have many enemies, many who rise up against them and seek to destroy them. But they have one Friend who can deal with them all. If he is for them, it does not matter who is against them. He counts it his honor to be their Savior. His all-powerful strength is committed to them, and all his people have found him ready to save.

The margin reads, “O you who save those who trust in you from those who rise up against your right hand.” Those who oppose the saints are rebels against God and against his right hand, his power. So there is no doubt he will, in due time, rise up against them.

Second, David tells God what he wants and expects: “Show your marvelous loving-kindness.” This word means, first, special favors. “Set your loving-kindness apart for me. Do not leave me with common blessings, but be gracious to me as you are to those who love your name.” It also means wonderful favors. “Let your loving-kindness be something amazing. Lord, show me your favor in a way that makes both me and others stand in wonder.”

God’s loving-kindness is marvelous because it is so free and so full. In some cases, it appears especially marvelous (Psalm 118:23). It will surely appear that way in the salvation of the saints, when Christ comes to be glorified in them and admired in all who believe.